CAMPAIGNERS are staging a final stand over imminent plans to convert an arts centre into family housing.
The Friends of Boscombe Centre for Community Arts want to save the Haviland Road building from part demolition.
Bournemouth Council last year gifted the site to Bournemouth 2026 partnership for redevelopment.
A planning application is due within days to build 10 affordable houses and an accessible bungalow.
Linda Ni’Man, a lecturer and a governor of the Friends of the BCCA, said: “It’s a poor area and it needs community assets.
“Why doesn’t the council start building family homes right in the heart of the whole problem – which is around the Boscombe Crescent area?
“There’s at least two houses in multiple occupation for sale at the moment which could be converted into family flats.”
The building closed in August 2007 after the council decided it was too expensive to repair.
Plans to create a £2.3million council centre with a small arts base fell after the government cut the grant.
The council opted for family housing because it believes Boscombe needs a more settled population to cut crime and deprivation.
A Community Land Trust will own the land but residents willd own the actual properties.
Bournemouth 2026 development manager Debbie Clifton said: “We believe a trust which provides attractive, functional and affordable housing will provide a stepping stone for low-income residents and also provide an incentive to stay.”
Chairman Bob Boulton said: “Considerable care will be taken to protect and restore the listed buildings and a decision on the other non-listed buildings will follow.”
